"It will take many months to years to get Ms. Arlen back on her feet. I did not mean to imply that Ms. Arlen would be able to walk quickly," Levy wrote. "Please do not misconstrue my plan as a statement of permanence of her disability."

The IPC said that because she might be able to walk at some point, she is ineligible to participate in the games in Montreal, which kick off in a couple of days.

The Arlen family said Victoria Arlen is devastated and heartbroken. The family plans to appeal.

"I don't care what you call permanent. Right now, she's paralyzed from the waist down," father Larry Arlen said. "My daughter has been crying her eyes out."

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said she has personally reached out to the U.S. Olympic Committee.

"Victoria is an incredibly talented young woman," Shaheen said. "She deserves the chance to compete in Montreal."

A similar dispute arose last year at the Paralympic Games in London. But officials there did allow Arlen to swim, and she went on to win four medals, including a gold. She also broke her own world record in one event.

"She feels humiliated, and she's like, 'Dad, all I want to do is swim. I swim for myself. I swim for God. I enjoy it,'" Larry Arlen said.

Arlen's family is on the way to Montreal to pick her up.

Victoria Arlen has been in a wheelchair since contracting a rare viral infection at 11 years old. The infection left her in a coma for nearly two years.